


I'd do anything for you guys, specifically, I'd kill God

by Gypsophila927



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Asexual/Aromantic Akira, F/F, Haru and Ryuji are besties, I don't know what I'm doing, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Multi, New Game +, Platonic Relationships, Queerplatonic Relationships, neither do they, they're kinda dumbasses, yaldabaoth is a sore loser
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:47:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24946357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gypsophila927/pseuds/Gypsophila927
Summary: So Yaldabaoth lost, he doesn't accept how humanity is, and swears to them he'll get revenge, he tries to kill ryuji but Igor sends him back in time with knowledge of the future and Lavenza ends up sending Ryuji with Akira's probation journal.Needless to say Ryuji can't catch a break and he isn't going to soon.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Sakamoto Ryuji, Kitagawa Yusuke & Sakamoto Ryuji, Kurusu Akira & Sakamoto Ryuji, Niijima Makoto & Sakamoto Ryuji, Niijima Makoto/Okumura Haru, Okumura Haru & Sakamoto Ryuji, Sakamoto Ryuji & Phantom Thieves of Heart, Sakamoto Ryuji & Sakamoto Ryuji's Mother, Sakamoto Ryuji & Sakura Futaba, Sakamoto Ryuji & Sakura Sojiro, Sakamoto Ryuji & Takamaki Ann, Suzui Shiho/Takamaki Ann
Comments: 20
Kudos: 53





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First fic let's go-

He wakes up on a bed in a prison cell (again) he sees a small woman with a butterfly headband who had introduced herself as lavenza, and a man with gray hair who he remembers as Igor. She apologizes, and presses a book into his hand and the man too apologies, as well as give him  _ something _ he doesn't remember, he doesn't remember much of the encounter. It fades to black and he hears the laughter of a  _ bastard. _

  
  


Ryuji, confused and just about done at this point decides the best course of action would be to get a journal of his own and he goes to Leblanc to sort out his thoughts and plans 

He ends up righting down his entire account and what he needs to do

  1. He's absolutely got to save Akechi and haru's Dad bc that's what she deserves and he can somewhat understand akechi despite his _shitty_ actions
  2. He knows what is going on in this school year, might as well get around to studying
  3. He remembers shiho and wants to help her before anything happens to her, she's Ann's girlfriend! (Not yet he guesses)



So overall just look out for his friends and the people around them, got it…

…. And he guesses to maybe get some acting or improv classes too so he starts writing and referencing their finances

  
  


He's sitting at the bar in Leblanc with a cup of coffee (yuck! But he knew he needed the caffeine) when boss starts talking to him.

Akechi enters and sits down but Ryuji doesn't notice him.

"Whatcha got there kid?", sojiro asks.

"Just figuring some shit out boss," he says with a sigh.

Sojiro freezes at the nickname, confused.

Ryuji, just realizing that he just called him boss and they haven't technically met yet,"uhh sorry, you just remind me of a man I knew." he says rather awkwardly.

"No it's fine, actually most people call me that," he looks over at what ryuji is doing and notices the budget stuff, "crist kid.. why are you looking at financing?"

Kinda spoked he closes his spread of notebooks (Akira's probation journal, his account on last year, and now the new one with his plan, finances, and goals) because it'd be kinda bad to be found out immediately. "Its… well it's kinda stupid." he trails off.

Sojiro raises an eyebrow but figures it isn't his business and goes to help his next customer. 

"I don't usually see people my age here" Akechi says and Ryuji freezes up and turns over to see akechi.

"I heard the coffee is good, but I wouldn't really know, I hate coffee." Ryuji says internally forcing himself to **_calm_** **_down_**. With limited success.

"You came here but don't like coffee?" Akechi says with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course," he says with a little eyeroll and a laugh, "I'll get you to see it my way, just you wait." 

Akechi seems amused and laughs too. "Akechi, goro." He says offering a hand.

"I'm Sakamoto, ryuji." Instead offering him a fist bump.

Akechi has a delayed reaction to this so ryuji makes his hand into a fist and then bumps it.

Ryuji gets up and then waves goodbye before leaving a mildly confused Akechi and a silently judging the situation, Sojiro.

  
  


Ryuji 1st needs to discover Akira, 2nd should convince Shiho to leave the school  **before** what that  _ bastard _ does to her, and last importantly, at the moment, get a job and pay for improv classes.

His run into Akira is uneventful, if you count chasing after one of his best friends in a car before giving up and traveling to another world with your future best friend and meets humanities hope personified as a cat (?)

He considers himself good at his reactions with the combination of memories he retains and makes sure to keep it scripted,

Later he's glad that his mom is home early, and makes dinner for the 2 of them.

  
  


After figuring that their only way to stop kamoshida was to steal his heart, he makes sure to talk to Shiho

"Hey," he approaches calmly and softly, only knowing the half of what she's dealt with and trying not to spook her, despite not knowing how to talk to someone in such a way, he channels his mom, and what she would for him if he got a nightmare about his dad,"do you mind if I talk with you about something?"

She looks a little surprised that he approached her but nods none the less and follows him so they can talk, her eyes look so dead that he just wants to hug the girl and tell her that it'd be okay.

"I know that you and Ann are friends and she's pretty worried about you, and I don't know what's entirely what's going on but neither of us want to see you hurt. I haven't told Ann what I'm about to ask you yet but if you don't want to I didn't want to tell her and have her pressure you into it." He says in an exacerbated sort of ramble. He looks over to shiho.

"What are you asking me?" She says.

"I want you to transfer." He blurts out, gaining him a shocked expression. "I don't want you getting hurt damnit, neither does Ann. You're not happy here, I can tell you're depressed and it'll only get worse if you stay." 

She stays silent just, looking at him, not knowing what to say.

"It's okay if you don't know immediately, just maybe think it over? It's ultimately your choice."

With that he leaves her hoping that the idea will help her  _ get out _ sooner.

  
  


He goes back to Leblanc (knowing Akira won't be there), the place helps him think and has his familiarity so he's naturally drawn to it, this time with a list of jobs and the 'plan journal', as he's dubbed it. Sojiro has taken notice to the space he's taken up and talks to him again.

"Job fliers?" He says

"Yep. I want to take classes for something but don't want my ma paying for it" he says offhandedly.

"Hm, what classes?" Sojiro asks.

"Uhh, I've been… kinda.. Actually, just.. you know, improv?"

Sojiro smirks, "looks like you need it" 

"Bossssss." He whines, dropping his head onto the table. "Ugh."

Sojiro, a man who must adopt every stray he comes across sighs. "I can let you work here part time, but I wouldn't be able to pay you much."

Ryuji's eyes widen as he instantly shoots up from his seat, "really?!"

"Yeah but just be aware I have a kid here in the attic, he should actually be around your age."

"Oh.. will I ever meet him?" He says, boss'll know they're friends later he guesses.

"Well he's not supposed to be in the store during hours but maybe. Now do you want me to show you the ropes or not?" He says jestering to another apron. "It's going slow so might as well."

He nods and packs up his stuff, shoving it into a corner. He subconsciously makes eye contact with the camera sojiro set up for futaba cursing internally at the mistake.

The rest of the evening goes uneventful as he learns the basics but he doubts he'd be able to do anything with it soon. 

  
  


Shiho makes the transfer soon enough, much to the euphoria of Ann and ryuji. As she leaves though, Ann has her own revelation for her feelings and now has a girlfriend. She gets to join the crew and Ryuji gets another old friend.

Along with that old friend he gets another problem,  **joker doesn't know how to lead** . It's not that he isn't trying, and he's certainly doing better then what Ryuji would do at this point. He's new to this and it's fine but at the same time it's absolutely  **infuriating** but there's nothing he can do then have complete trust in him and pick up the pieces, making sure nobody gets hurt. 

Another thing he didn't take into account was the fact since he's a prisoner of the velvet room he can now see joker go into the velvet room, accompanied by twin wardens. The first time it happened he was kind of stunned but neither girl addressed him and when joker came back Morgana chided him for, 'blanking out'. Well, guess he knows why now.

In the meantime though they've been rebuilding their Bond and Ryuji finds himself happy to have him. He loves Akira and Akira loves him,  _ but not in that way _ , he's his bro and they revolved around each other and could just be  _ around _ each other but he's not  _ in love _ with him. He's bi but his love for Akira was platonic, in his past round they'd mistake their feelings for romantic and kissed but it wasn't what they'd wanted. Wasn't how they felt. After a bit of research and a revelation in sexuality, Akira found himself on the aro/ace scale and in a perfectly valid and healthy duo with his best friend. Best friends was the title they chose and the title they'd keep because it felt most comfortable with. 

This time though Ryuji talked about it while they were training together. He off-handedly mentioned that he read a book with an aro/ace character (twas a lie [Morgana : you read?, Ryuji: don't sound so surprised]) to which Akira had a more interested expression, Ryuji could tell his expressions at this point, as his best friend, so he explained it.

He'd also been dragged along with Ann to carry her shopping bags. This wasn't his first rodeo so when she came to him for his opinion he supplied it helpfully. (Ann: wow I didn't know you had style, ryuji: I'm bi, my gay half gives me style, Ann: omg we are _disaster_ _bi's together_ )

He later gets his improv classes in order and goes into his first class to see  _ haru _ . It made sense, she had 'yes and'ed' Morgana when he left the team, she was  _ very _ good at improv and it made him pretty proud. In the beginning she noticed his starring and he quickly apologized, explaining how he saw her at his school. After that clear up they had quickly got aquainted and since ryuji had already associated her with 'friend' he already treated her as such which in turn made her treat him as such. What was later having to see haru be picked up by her  **asshole** fiance, but he made promise to see her next lesson and internally promised to himself he would make sure to make this the  _ least stressful _ and  _ happy _ she can be while under the thumb of her father and fiance.

  
  


Yaldabaoth did swear to kill them. He tried to start with Ryuji but he did swear revenge against _ all of them _ . And no, he never forgot about that fact.

He just didn't expect for the false god to send cognitive machinations after them to kill them.

And since he's the only one who knows about them he has to take them out alone.

So basically, Ryuji comes up with whatever flimsy excuse he can in the moment when he sees out of the corner of his mind a cognitive beast. Then he proceeds to run after it, battle it, tell it to go back to whatever hell it came from, and then return to the group like nothing happened.

Needless to say he's gotten a lot more paranoid in the metaverse, since he's battling demons no one knows about and that can kill them.

He needs a damn break.

  
  


He makes the calling card, and it's the first time, in a long time, that he does it alone. And later he gets the first, to many, reactions to the card.

  
  


They beat kamoshida's palace and get his  _ shitty _ metal and wait. 

  
  


They establish their role and name and make Akira their leader. After kamoshida  _ finally _ got around to confessing his  _ bullshit _ . And get around to a celebration. Even if it's the 2nd time round and they're surrounded by shitty adults he'll always love a phantom thief celebration. And even if he knows what'll happen he's still happy to see his team decide to continue on their path.

  
  


They have meetings on the rooftop, and that's when Ryuji remembers that Haru gardens on the roof. He ends up going there with his notebooks to better strategies (he's met Akechi already but what could he possibly do to sway him away from his goals, what could he do to get him to compromise, to reconsider? He doesn't know what to do and he can't approached the others about this, besides that he wants to help his ma with all that he can but-) 

"Sakamoto? Is that you?" He looks over to see haru, gardening supplies and all. She looks to be inspecting him and his spread. "What are you doing here?"

He looks down to his lap that is supporting his notebook. He holds it up to her, showing her the page, "happen to know anything about budgeting??"

That was certainly not the answer she was expecting, as her eyes widen and she takes off her gloves to pick up the notebook and look at it. "Why are you looking at stuff like this?"

"I got a part time job to help a least a little bit. My ma has always been struggling to make sure we have a roof over our heads and groceries and whatnot, I just thought I could, you know, pitch in."

She beams at him, "that's so kind of you to care for her so much, oh! But is it taxing for you to take improv classes? It must be inconvenient for you with that situation."

He looks sheepish at the compliment and concern, he laughs a little at it. "Your father owns a company right? Can I abuse our friendship to get some help with this." He says making complete sure that he sounds sarcastic.

She laughs a little too, "I wish I could, I don't know much about business and such. My father wouldn't let me, I suspect that he wants to use me for marriage and what not." She says. 

He seen what her father has done to her before but  **man** does it make his  **blood boil** . "That's effing  _ horrible _ ." He says, "aren't you his  _ child?  _ His  _ heir? _ " 

She looks rightfully upset at this, "he's my father." She says quietly.

He backs up a bit, realizing that that reaction helps no one. "Well… what if you did learn how to manage and balance money? We could help each other, I would be able to help my mom and you could show your dad you're as capable as I know you are!"

She looks stunned for a second before  _ lighting up _ . "Do you really think so?" 

"Of course! If you don't mind it, we can start now,"

"Well I was about to do some gardening… " she trails off.

"No problem! I hope you don't mind some help!" He says rolling up his sleeves. "I guess we'll be seeing each other a lot between improv and this now." 

  
  


After his first meeting with akechi he recovered from the shell shock of seeing the dude alive, and now is just  _ filled _ with  _ anger _ at the teen. At the TV station he  _ had _ to keep his cool, remember what to say, and not portray what absolute  _ bullshit  _ he feels toward him and has to remind himself he'll  _ save  _ him. After akechi approaches them after he lets  _ nothing _ show except his clenched fist, shaking with  _ anger _ at his side. He watches him leave and lets out a sigh of relief when he does, turning only to see his friends confused looks. He doesn't address them, just making eye contact with Morgana and nodding. Of course he's saving the bastard, but said bastard tried to kill his  _ best friend _ and  _ murdered _ not  _ 1  _ but  _ 2  _ of his friend's parents he feels he has the  _ right  _ to be a little  _ mad _ . 

Ann and Akira shoot him a concerned look but he waves it off. "Morgana? You get that?" He scans the cat's face.

He looks over to him, "yes, I guess that will be important." 

Ryuji nods again, "good." 

  
  


If he thought dealing with the demons in kamoshida's palace was bad then mementos managed the achievement of being worse. He's glad that he retains his strength because if he hadn't he'd be dead.

_ Thanks Igor. _

He gets the  _ added bonus _ of quite a bit more bosses that hunt them down. He now has to carry his own medical supplies and sp boosts so that he can handle both Yaldabaoth's assassins and the rest of mementos. 

He's pretty sure by the end of this he'll have a crippling coffee addiction.

He wonders how long he'll last.

Goddamnit he's going to have to come here without the group and sweep the place isn't he.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yusuke joins the crew and Ryuji counties his on going crisis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When my sibling and I played persona 5 we kinda head cannoned Akira as extremely gay and respects woman. It was very hilarious for that to dictate all our actions because we were dodging all the romantic options the game was throwing at us and made for a pleasantly hilarious set up.

He can't even  _ describe _ how  _ happy  _ he is to see that weirdo. His acting skills are getting better and when he sees yusuke he's proud to say he  _ doesn _ 't tackle and/or smile to show any familiarity. He  _ will _ get him back, but for now he plays his part and just enjoys the show. (God he missed that weirdo[ _ his  _ weirdo, his  _ friend _ ])

  
  


"You've been acting  _ weird _ ." Ann says. They're at Leblanc getting coffee, because Ryuji physically can't escape that place.

He snorts into his coffee, "yeah?" 

"You're drinking coffee! You hated coffee-"

"I still hate coffee." 

"And you've been both distant and closer? You got a  _ job _ ."

" _ Hey. _ "

"And you haven't been fawning over girls," she gives him a suspicious stare. "I know we haven't been friends for a bit but it doesn't make sense? You never acted like this before." She frowning at him now and he resists the urge to recoil. Her voice drops to a murmur, "I know a lot has changed since track but it's like you've changed overnight."

"Wait… are you dating someone?" 

Ryuji chokes on his coffee. Before, he was running through a possible list of excuses. Now though, his brain simply short circuits. 

"Ryuji, I know you're not on shift but I will force you to clean up the coffee you spill." 

He looks over to see Sojiro looking over to them with a raised eyebrow. Sojiro looks at Ann for a second. "You didn't bring your girlfriend on a date to your workplace did you?" His judgement seeps into his tone.

They both sputter into denying his claim at once, and in that time Ryuji  _ actually _ spills his coffee and has to clean it up. Ann doesn't exactly run away but it's a close thing as she heads out as quickly as possible. 

He turns around to see Sojiro looking at the door that Ann just left from looking smug.  _ Oh, he did that deliberately. _

  
  


In the meantime though he gets his first interaction with Akira and boss.

He's cleaning glasses at the counter when Akira steps into Leblanc in the evening, raising a single eyebrow.

"Akira?" He questions, "what are you doing here?"

"Wait, you two know each other?" Sojiro asks.

"I live here." Akira says with a smooth calmness.

"I started working here a bit ago." He says with a smile. "And yeah of course we know each other we're friends!" 

Sojiro looks over to Akira to see a small smile on the boy's face(a rare amount of emotion), he sighs, "as long as you 2 aren't getting in trouble, okay?"

"Of course boss," he says and wonders how much of a lie that is, "can I get you anything Akira?" 

"Have you passed the threshold to making coffee yet?" He says with a knowing smirk, as the only other teen sojiro teaches to make it.

"Yeah! I've been practicing too, so you shouldn't want to spit it out immediately." He says  _ mildly _ sarcastic.

To this Akira just smiles and sits down at a stool. _Kinda weird_ his mind supplies but he carries on none the less. Along with training, Akira has been helping him study, _lord knows he needs it_ , and the second time round he's **actually getting** **it** so he guesses at least _something_ is working in his favor. (He chases away the little voice in his mind telling him he _needed_ a second time to even _begin_ to understand it)

  
  


He's really and truly baffled at the way Yusuke and them interact. For the most part it's just hilarious and secondly it's entirely  _ idiotic _ if not  _ stupid _ . And the only word he can match with it is  _ fitting _ .

It's painful to see the guy defend such a shitty person but he reassures himself that it'll only be for a little while.

  
  


In the meantime he's sitting with Haru on the roof as she waters her plants.

"- and that'll apply to your assets if?" He continues.

"If I provide insurance to them." She finishes.

"Nice!" He offers her a fist bump which she returns.

"Ryuji, I think I have an offer for you." She says putting down the watering can and taking off her gloves. She stands in front of him on the side and continues. "I've noticed how rapidly you've been improving with acting, and I think you'd be a worthy investment."

He looks confused, "the eff do you mean?"

"I want to sponsor your improv classes, and maybe later put you in some acting ones." She says softly, as if if she makes a wrong move it'll scare him.

He's speechless, after getting his leg broken he accepted the fact he wouldn't be able to run, the  _ only thing _ he was actually  _ good _ at. Now with the necessity to get  _ good _ at  _ lying _ he's spent a lot of effort to be  _ better _ in his classes overall. He never thought haru would take notice, non the less offer money to help him.

She kneels down and takes his hand, rubbing circles into it. (A jester he would do for her when she started ranting about the people in her life, she wasn't used to physical affection  _ unlike ryuji with his mom _ so he tended to do smaller things to his friends, knowing they had different experience with it [most of his friends didn't come from physically affectionate upbringings]) "You can think about it okay? I just thought sponsoring you would be worth it for the both of us, since I'd learn how and you'd be able to spend your earnings on helping your mother." She doesn't lose her soft tone throughout it. "And you can think about it okay? I don't expect you to come to a conclusion immediately." She goes back to work on the next bed.

He couldn't bring himself to form words so he nods. Luckily for him they need not continue conversating as Makoto (Niigima, he guesses, at the moment) comes through the door.

"I thought Okumera was the only one gardening, I was going to offer my assistance. What are you doing here Sakamoto?" She looks more confused than anything, given the stereotypes they both have many assume the 2 would rarely interact, if at all. Even so their friendship persists and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Oh Niigima! Thanks for offering, but I'm almost finished! Ryuji is here keeping me company so don't worry about him," she says with a smile.

He waves a little in confirmation but is looking down at his homework that he's  _ actually doing. _

(Weird huh) "Yeah, I know you could do it on your own but it's always better with friends, huh?" He's shaken out of his spook so he turns to her with a smile. 

She returns it, much to the confusion of Makoto who looks like she's missing something. Either she decides it's none of her business or doesn't care enough to find out because she kind of shrugs. "Just come to me if you need any help okay?" She starts to leave but Haru tugs on her sleeve.

"Wait, I would like your input on something," she says, "I don't know what I should grow next.

"Ryuji said coffee beans but I have no idea why because he  _ hates  _ coffee with a burning passion and I prefer tea" She laughs a little and

Ryuji joins in.

Makoto looks at this and asks, "I mean you have a limited time left so won't it be hard to garden without it going overtime?"

Ryuji laughs, "it's my delinquent influence, we'll be doing unwarranted gardening." 

Haru looks bashful and watches Makoto's reaction carefully, "well, it's not as if you're doing anything dangerous. If you continue this I won't tell anyone." Makoto promises.

"Really! Thank you so much Niigima" she says jumping the girl into a hug.

"I- of course, now what have you grown so far?" She says a little red, (it kind of reminds him of how she acted before the 2 dated, which is technically now)

"Oh! I've grown, tomato's, beans, and flowers, so far,"

Ryuji cuts in, "don't forget about that tropical plant you grew! I can't believe you managed to grow that on a school rooftop?! Don't even try to be modest about that!"

Makoto thinks to herself about Ryuji's pride for Haru, it loudly reminds her of how proud she gets for sis's accomplishments and she decides he isn't so bad.

  
  


Ryuji wakes up from a nightmare. It isn't entirely uncommon at this point because of Yaldabath and he wouldn't be surprised if  _ this  _ was his final fuck you.

  
  


Adding Yusuke to their group dynamic was easy. After he found out the truth he had no qualms with joining to assist against his former mentor. That said, now that they were friends, he was  _ definitely _ going to get him to  _ consistently _ eat. In his 'past life' he realized a little later then he wanted to that yusuke was not eating a  _ sufficient amount _ he'd offered to make him lunch and make sure he had groceries. Now though, he implements this immediately, dragging the boy along to get groceries, taking him out to dinner, and running over to him every day at the station with his lunch. 

Originally this was just between them, but  _ everyone else caught on _ . Akira would give him a subtle smirk when he handed Yusuke a lunch and Ann would demand to be invited to outings. 

Eventually after hearing about his cooking from Yusuke they demand to try it (despite the fact Ann already had when she had trouble getting food when she modeled) and Ryuji just resigns himself to inviting them to dinner because he (for the most part) makes dinner. He gets many reassurances that it's great and they get to meet his ma who proceeds to adopt all his friends and gets confirmation that they'd visit again.

At the end of the meeting Ann comments, "wow how is she even related to you, she's so kind and protective. I can't believe how hard working she has to be to accomplish this." 

Yusuke smirks at this, "I'd argue that's exactly what he gets from her."

"Yeah she certainly raised me well, at least her anger didn't carry over." He says as a snide comment but his friends look over to him in silent question. "You haven't seen her when she's angry, and you'll never want to." He says simply.

Akira remains silent through the exchange but his amusement is obvious.

  
  


He also learns that his theory before applies, because Yaldabaoth's assassins progressively get worse. He's constantly on look out, pulling his team away from murder attempts and looking out for every little detail.

He feels as if he's facing a second palace within this one. A shadow palace with shadow shadow's.

And luckily for him he just found their boss. He faces it to the best of his ability, and he takes it down. Not without gaining injuries though, he reaches into his pocket for something that'll heal him. He comes up empty.

_ Great _ .

So he returns to his team,  _ injured _ , and has to come up with an excuse. 

Ann sees him and promptly tackles him. "Ryuji! Where did you go?" 

He's holding his arm since it'd been damaged. He laughs, "sorry, I got separated and lost. Jumped by shadows." He smiles weakly. "I think I would appreciate some healing right about now if you're able."

Morgana looks him over, suspiciously, but he heals him regardless.

  
  


Ryuji is sitting on a park bench (he realized he shouldn't  _ just _ go to Leblanc and the school rooftop) with notebooks spread over his lap, he's sitting peacefully when a boy runs over, rushing and sitting down. He quickly realizes it's akechi and that he's running away from fangirls. ( _ Bitch, _ **no.** Don't be  **an asshole** , sure he's done some  _ shit _ but that's going to  _ change _ ) 

"Uh you alright dude?" He asks.

"Of course, though some of my fans can be  _ persistent _ ." Akechi responds, a bit out of breath.

"Yikes, ever tried a disguise?" Ryuji really doubts he hasn't but he might as well offer. "You have a pretty distinct style."

"Elaborate."

"My guy, I've literally only seen you in your detective shit, which I'm starting to think is your only get up. Maybe if you wear a hat and glasses? And a different jacket?" He looks him over for a second (not considering personal space) his ventures with Ann kicking in.

"Here, put on my jacket," he says handing it to him, "and these." He pulls out some sunglasses he had in his bag and offers them.

Akechi, to his credit, does as he's told and wears them.

"Now I don't have a hat so sit down." He forces the boy to sit and then pulls out a pony tail holder out of his bag to do his hair.

"You know how to do hair?" He asks.

"Of course, a couple of my best friends are girls, I'm always prepared." He says with a smirk. "There, you look like a sleep deprived writer now." Guess his improv associating brain never turns off anymore.

"It seems I don't like repelling at the very least." He comments.

"What? You think I'd do a bad job?" He teases.

"No of course not- it's just I wasn't expecting this from you of all people." He tries to cover his backhanded comment, a little slip up for how he really acts.

"Relax, I was kidding, seriously dude. I'm not going to immediately get offended by you, you can drop the formalities. Besides if you think I'll do a bad job, I'll just have to prove you wrong." He says with a smile,  _ that's right _ ,  _ throw whatever you want at me, it won't do anything _ .

They look over to a group of girls walking in their direction, "I could've sworn he went this direction!" She says mildly frustrated. Another girl in their 'pack' sighs, "maybe we should back track, he can't have gone far." They seem to nod and move on.

"Hell yeah man, it worked." He says, offering a high five.

"Well I guess I should head home, with that over." He says with a sigh.

"No! Of course not! We need to make the most out of this disguise and do something!" He says to the surprise of Akechi. "Want to go get dinner or something? We could go to the arcade or both!" 

The rest of the evening is filled with the 2 going around and just trying things, with the mentality of  _ why not _ . Leading to much laughter on Ryuji's end. At dinner akechi makes a comment about not being used to eating with others.

"Dude, do you just not eat dinner with anyone?"

He looks at akechi who opens his mouth but gets cut off by Ryuji, "no, don't answer that, you're coming over to my house for our next family dinner, don't even try to get out of it." 

Akechi laughs, "you're one of the most stubborn people I know."

"Wait til you meet my ma." He replies. "Now can you give me your number? Or do you want mine."

  
  


He's sitting in the school library because he told himself he'd make an effort this time. Now what the hard part of  _ actually following through _ . He puts his face to the desk with a resounding  _ thud _ and groans.

Unluckily for him he was not alone.

"What are you doing?" Kawakami says flatly.

"Trying and falling." Ryuji says from his book surrounded grave.

She walks closer to him and inspects what he's doing. "Doing school work?"

"Trying to at least." He says with a sigh.

Her gaze on him softens a bit. She then puts down her bag and sits across from him.

"How can I help you?"

  
  


Ryuji is sitting in a restaurant with Yusuke (Ann couldn't make it) when Akechi enters. "Yo Akechi, what's up?" He says in greeting.

"Ah I was just about to get lunch, and who is this?" He asks.

"Yusuke kitagawa, do you know each other?" Yusuke asks with slight confusion.

"Yep." Ryuji says not elaborating in the slightest, he turns back to Akechi. "Want to join us?" 

"Uh well I wouldn't want to intrude-" Wow, Ryuji kinda hates the way he's acting, not going to lie.

"Nonsense, join if you want, but like, don't feel obligated to."

Akechi looks conflicted for a moment before sitting down and ordering. He ends up trying to make pleasant conversation but that's absolutely _screwed_ _over_ by the others at the table. After realizing pleasant conversation was forfeit it got much more interesting which ended in Yusuke wanting to draw their expressions and them finishing lunch. 

"After this we were going to head to the grocery store, want to join?" He questions, not expecting anything.

"Sure? But why are you going to the store?"

"Because this dumbass doesn't." He says fondly.

"You say that, but I know you refer to us as, 'my dumbasses'" Yusuke retorts, knowing that Ryuji cares more about them then he lets on.

"Shut up. I swear I should have never let you meet my ma." He says with no heat behind it and grabbing what little he has to get up and leave. 

Akechi seems to find all interactions he has with his friends amusing and laughs.

They head off to the grocery store and continue their chaos, (Akechi: you 2 really don't realize the havok you're causing?, Ryuji, standing partially on the cart, rolling down the isle: what havok? Yusuke drawing Ryuji, partially riding the cart: it's not havok, it's art) and soon yusuke departs from them saying something about drawing their bond.

  
  


As soon as he leaves akechi turns to him. "You certainly make sure to take care of your friends" it comes out as snide, which is funny to Ryuji because that's a break in his character. He should keep a list of when that happens.

"Yeah, I think he needs to eat for me to keep him around." He jokes.

"The way you treat me in a similar light, I don't think I deserve it." He says quietly.

Ryuji gives him a look, "isn't it my choice whether you're worth it or not?" He shakes his head. "So what days are you free? I want to make sure you can come over sooner than later."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sojiro, looking at Ryuji who's currently panicking with ann : he's going to be fine.
> 
> Sojiro : ..
> 
> Sojiro : ..
> 
> Sojiro : I should probably intervene before she breaks my employee
> 
> You better believe that Yusuke asks Ann if Ryuji is always like this when he starts getting him food and Ann is like hdkagldhcupch apparently he is.
> 
> The trip to the grocery store goes as follows,  
> Akechi: you 2 really don't realize the havok you're causing?
> 
> Ryuji, standing partially on the cart, rolling down the isle: what havok?
> 
> Yusuke drawing Ryuji, partially riding the cart: it's not havok, it's art
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! I really enjoy making this and sharing it :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto joins the group and Ryuji infects her with dumbass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to point out that Takemi (the doctor) needs a lot more people to test medicine on then just Akira. Sure, his help is useful and necessary for this, but she still needs others with different conditions (like different weight/height/gender/age/etc) to see the effects of it and what the dosages are.
> 
> Besides that, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy :)

He learns the doctor's name is Takami and he knows he needs her assistance if he keeps facing these things. Problem is he has no idea  _ how _ . Akira has some sort of magic that helps him secure deals with people that he doesn't have so he has no idea how to convince her to help him.

So, like the good improvised he is, he tells half truths. Said truth discludes the metaverse though a lie of omission. 

He gets an appointment with her and then explains, "I have many symptoms of anxiety, like panic attacks and paranoia." He says simply.

A truth, he has been dealing with those recently. Not exactly the most pleasant thing but there regardless.

"I do not have the means to get diagnosed or treat it." Another truth, he and ma couldn't be able to spend money on this. 

"I'm hoping to just get medicine to deal with the symptoms and then just deal with it as it comes I guess."

She looks him over. "Or you can work out a deal with me about testing out medicine and I can give you prescription stuff that should help with you more."

"Is that legal?" He asks.

"If it was, would that change your answer?"

"No, just make me more concerned about our government."

She laughs a bit, "great, pop by again and we'll set this up." 

"Sounds good." He should be concerned about this. He isn't.

  
  


He loves Makoto but god is she the least stealthy person he knows. He refrains from being cruel to her even though he told himself to act the same as before.  _ He can't believe the miniscule amount of stealth that fits this one person _ . He makes sure to say hi whenever he sees her too, which is quite often, and also hilarious given the fact she seems to  _ not expect it  _ and despite how mean it may be  _ he loves messing with her _ . 

After getting sort of, kind of, maybe blackmailed by her, a throwback to a rotten adult, and makoto being an absolute  _ queen _ that leaves them with another team member.

As they did when they got any other team member, they force them to hangout with the group for a bit. Unluckily for Ryuji, who had worked a shift, did improv class, school, and the metaverse (including taking out some of Yaldabaoth's shadow's), that meant he was kinda clocked out. 

They're sitting at a table in leblanc just chatting with food and coffee when he loses focus and then quickly passes out on the shoulder next to him.

"Ryuji!" Ann exclaims.

"Shh, you'll wake him up." Akira says, "I figured he was exhausted.."

"If that's the case should we let him sleep?" Makoto asks, concerned.

Yusuke nods, "that seems to be the better course of action for him." 

Morgana ends up curled up to him too after a bit. After a couple minutes, boss comes by and gives the boy a blanket. About 15 minutes later he stirs. Everyone takes note of this, since they are the cafe's only patrons and sojiro has been looking after the kids.

"Get… get away.. " he says quietly, twitching a little in the process. "Please, haven't we been through enough." He pleads softly with an imaginary force. 

The looks he receives from this are sad and angry, none of them wanting him to endure this.

Akira takes it upon himself to wake up Ryuji, softly shaking the boy.

He jolts up, pushing away from everything in panic and puts his hands up in front of him to supposably shield himself. 

"Are you okay?" Akira asks softly.

"I- y-yeah man I just, I just need to catch up on sleep." He looks a bit frazzled.

"It's okay to have nightmares Ryuji." Morgana says nudging his head on his hand.

He smiles, but it's tired. That is pretty hypocritical of him. "Thanks Mona." He mutters something low and quiet and bitter afterwards though. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" Makoto questions, wary as if she's over stepping boundaries. 

"Maybe some other time," he says with a bittersweet smile. "Do you guys mind if I go to sleep again?"

Akira shakes his head and ryuji takes that as permission. He burries his head in his arms and eventually his breaths even out.

The time comes for everyone to part ways and they decide maybe It'd be better to let Ryuji get rest, so they move him upstairs. Leaving him and Akira.

Before they go Sojiro walks up to them, "Just… look after them, okay?" The group nods in confirmation.

Sojiro sighs, he got the kid's mom's number from Akira so he calls her. 

"Hello? This is Sakura Sojiro, calling from Leblanc cafe? Your son was hanging out here with my kid and his friends, and he fell asleep."

"Oh do you need me to come get him?" 

"No, we actually just wanted to let you know that he can stay here tonight."

"Thank you Sakura, I'm working night shift so I'm glad my son has someone looking out for him."

  
  


It's a rainy day which sucks for Ryuji because that means he has to wear his stupid leg brace. This has the added bonus of his promise to Akechi, he said he would walk him from the station to his apartment, which he won't back out of, but he can't imagine the other boy  _ not _ questioning it. He decides to wear shorts ( _ might as well get it over with _ ) and heads up to meet him.

"Yo!" He greets walking over to him, he looks him over for a sec, "did you bring an umbrella?"

"I'm afraid that I've forgotten mine at the station." Akechi says rubbing the back of his neck, sheepishly. He can't tell if this is a lie or not because Akechi practically breaths lies.

"Eh, just get over here," Ryuji says, offering cover under the umbrella.

Akechi joins, knowing far too well that an argument would be futile. He looks down at the leg brace and back at Ryuji with no subtlety, probably knowing that that wouldn't help him even if he was.

"Why do you need a brace?" He questions.

"Some bastard broke my leg, it didn't heal properly." He comments, at this point he's let it go, yes he still hates kamoshida's guts, but that won't heal his leg.

Ryuji looks over to Akechi, who's  _ fumeing _ , " _ what? _ " He demands.

Ryuji wasn't really expecting for  _ anyone _ , none the less  _ Akechi _ , to be angry on his behalf. "Hey, it's all in the past now, course I hate the son of a bitch who did it to me but, not like I can do anything now." He shrugs  _ hoping _ to downplay it enough that he  _ calms down _ . 

" 'Sides bastard did himself in one a bit ago,  _ and I'm much more mad for the bullshit he put my friends through _ ." He seethes.

Akechi sighs, muttering something about, 'of course he'd be more mad for his friends' seemingly dropping the topic, and they carry on. They reach his apartment and they carry on to his room. 

"Ma! We're home!" He calls out as he opens the door and puts down the umbrella. 

She looks over from the stove, "welcome home dear," she says with a smile. She puts down her ladle and goes over to kiss his head. "Now introduce me! You only ever talk about the people you spend time with, except that time you invited them over for one of your cooking days."

"Your cooking days?" Akechi questions moving from looking around the room to over to them.

His mom goes from sweet to  _ devilish _ as her smile shifts from something more  _ scary _ . "You mean he didn't tell you? He  _ never _ invites people over when I cook." 

Ryuji stumbles a bit at this, "that's just coincidence- the days just lined up, okay?" He denies. 

"But weren't you the one making sure I could cook today?" She says poking his cheek. 

He grumbles for a bit, but doesn't retort.

Dinner passes by quite peacefully, his mom, despite teasing, is great to be around. Sometimes they'll bounce ideas or energy off of each other and he looks over to Akechi who just has this  _ look _ on his face, he has no idea what the guy is thinking.

His ma just carries on as normal though so either she didn't notice, (unlikely) or knows something about it. Either way she claps a hand on his shoulder after dinner and says, "go do the dishes." 

"But ma!" He retorts weakly.

"No buts, I made dinner, now go do the dishes." She says with no room for arguing.

He grovels a little but does as he's told.

  
  


She laughs, "man that boy is so dramatic." She turns back to Akechi, "now, I'm sure you have some questions." 

"I do, though I'm sure they're not polite."

"Yes, but I'm offering, so might as well take me up on it." 

"You certainly remind me of your son." He laughs a little. "So, is it just you and him?" He questions carefully.

"Yep, wouldn't have it any other way." She says with a smile. "Though I'm pretty sure I'll adopt all his friends, given how adorable they all are and how he seems to gravitate towards kids with bad and/or single guardians? I have no idea but it seems like a constant."

"Guess that's why he latched onto me immediately," Akechi jokes. 

She looks sad at that comment and reaches out to grab his hand. She starts rubbing circles in it, "you know if you ever need anything, even just a meal with the family, don't hesitate to ask okay?"

He looks awkward at this, not knowing how to react. "Okay."

"Good! Now, what are your intentions with my son?" Her gripe on his hand changes from something comforting to  _ something else _ . It's not a vice grips, but he can tell that he wouldn't be able to leave it without her loosening it.

"What?" He's absolutely shocked by this development. He isn't dating him, certainly he isn't crushing on him.

"Yeah?" She prompts.

"I mean, it's just that, well," and with that Miss Sakamoto made Akechi go from detective prince, to a stuttering teenage boy.

Ryuji returns and looks over the scene, "what did you do?" He says flatly, knowing his mother too well. 

"Nothing too detrimental." She says, taking a sip of water, she turns her attention back to Ryuji though "why don't you invite him to come to your troup's show?"

Akechi, after being able to regain his composer, questions, "troop?"

"My boy joined an improv troup," she says with pride, "now, wasn't what I was expecting but he's still pretty good at it." 

"Moooommmm." Ryuji's whines.

"What, I got to invite as many people to support you as possible!" She says.

"Great," he says looking at Akechi, "now, I'm going to take him to the station before you do anymore damage."

As the boys exit, Ryuji's mother winks at Akechi and he gets flustered all over again, he looks over to Ryuji who somehow  _ didn't notice it. _

The boys are walking side by side to the station

"Well, I'll be off then, I'll probably see you around."

Ryuji nods, "knowing our luck, yeah. I'll send you the info for our show okay?" 

He looks confused, "sorry but you want me to come? I thought-"

"You thought wrong," Ryuji cuts him off, looking him over while grabbing his wrists, "yeah sure it's embarrassing, but of course I'd want you to come." 

Not knowing what to say, he nods. And with that he's off.

  
  


Making the calling card with Yusuke was nice, but having Makoto was having the  _ gang _ back.

The first time she steps into his house she says, "cleaner than I expected." She says and he just beams, unable to control himself because he missed her. 

"Thanks, I'll take your backhanded complement." He snarks.

"Oh I didn't- I didn't know I was talking aloud, sorry, that was rude of me." She looks bashful.

"Eh, no hard feelings." He says. "Yusuke isn't here yet, I bet he got side tracked," he moves out of the way to let her though.

"Is any of your family home?" She asks.

Oh. Right, she doesn't know yet.. yikes. When she first asked something similar he thought she was joking because of the rumors that got around about his family when kamoshida was 'teaching'.

"Nope," he says, popping the p, "she's not going to get back till later though so you might not even see her."

"Ah." She seems to shift awkwardly.

"Yep, you're not the only one to only have a strong independent woman be the head of your family," he jokes as he playfully punches her arm. She's normally tense with new people so he tries to be more playful.

She laughs a little, "huh guess we're more similar than I thought." She sighs, "but I guess you're more understanding of life outside of school." 

He thinks to himself for a second, "I guess? But if you want we could go out and do things?"

This time she laughs more naturally, "'do things?' what kind of things?"

"Arg I'm horrible at asking people to hangout, I mean like go out and do something other teens do? You know what? That sounds worse." She's flat out laughing at him now which is definitely not helping him form words but he's still happy none the less, they might not have lots in common but he still cherishes their friendship. "Okay, okay, I got it this time," he says trying not to laugh and ignores the little, 'do you?' from Makoto, "we are going to hangout, and I'll choose an activity for us to do."

They share a look before both bursting out laughing.

Yusuke walks into the apartment to see both of them doubled over, a sight he wasn't expecting.

They eventually calm down enough to actually do what they intended, make the calling card, and it's just  _ nice _ . Lately Ryuji has been terribly balancing everything, and with his weird mixture of friends it's easy to get distracted enough from it.

Eventually his mom enters their humble abode, tired and done. Ryuji gets up, kisses her head (he doesn't care about showing her affection in front of his friends damnit) he says softly, "go sit down, I'll get dinner ready." 

"Ah, are we going to witness another Sakamoto dinner?" Yusuke asks with his sketchbook in hand.

"No ya idiot, if you're staying, you're helping out." He wraps his arm around Yusuke's and Makoto's, "it's the Sakamoto experience, all or nothing, you got a pass last time but if you're staying you'd better help."

What follows is the most chaotic cooking experience he's had the pleasure of sharing, and he doesn't regret a damn second of it. He and his friends don't have a brain cell between them and from his perspective, that's alright. (A fiercely debated topic in his original time was if Makoto had a brain cell or not, he could argue she did, for the most part, but around their fellow phantom thieves she seemed to lose it) all in all they ended up with a half decent meal, with plenty extra that he divvies up between them.

Yusuke, already used to being provided food from the Sakamoto household, accepts the food with a brief thanks, and promise to stop by soon. Makoto seems to have more qualms with it though, but after a bit of back and forth, takes it. (I'm sure your sister hasn't eaten yet, miss Sakamoto says ruthlessly) 

  
  


Ryuji has the perfect idea as to what he and Makoto should do, he thinks it's cheap enough and calls her up. A trip to the cinema later and Makoto's asking, "so, what do you have planned?" 

He grins devilishly, "I'm taking you to see shitty movies of course, the real teen experience." 

They end up getting popcorn to share and ask the teen working there, 'what's the worst movie you're playing?' and get to watch a weird mix of underpayed space cowboys, which still had some good bits.

They shared laughter and threw popcorn and bonded over how bad it was.

"I truely wasn't expecting that, thanks for taking me." She says to Ryuji.

He nods, "anytime! Just call me up when you want to feel like a teen and we can do this again!"

"Of course! I wasn't actually expecting to enjoy that experience, simply because of the movie being horrible, and I'll extend an offer to you. If you need help with school, I'm only a quick phone call away."

Makoto easily slots into his schedule, despite how busy he remains, and he finds himself  _ looking _ for bad movies for the 2 as well as calling her at 7 asking for the formula to something he'd forgotten.

  
  


Makoto asks him if Sae can join them, and of course he says yes, she figured she needed something besides work to do and Ryuji probably couldn't say no to her if he tried. 

Then again it was weird, Ryuji didn't have a sense of personal space with his friends and Makoto and him always seem to cuddle during movies because he kinda, sort of, maybe sees her like a sister. Sometimes they'd end up watching movies in Akira's attic with the group and they always ended up leaning against one another in a loving platonic jester. It was kinda funny to see their friends' faces after they'd seemed to sink onto each other, not wanting to get up, this had then turned into a cuddle pile as Ann, Akira, and Morgana (Yusuke remained in the other chair to draw them) piled onto the couch and joined in. And promptly it turned into a sleep over.

(Sojiro got suspicious after the teens never came down, he went upstairs to see all of them piled onto the couch and asleep, and promptly took a photo)

Anyway they ended up leaning on each other which made Sae suspicious, what followed was the shortest coming out ever, (I'm gay, she said flatly) and Ryuji saying that if he  _ was _ a disgusting human being, Makoto would be able beat his ass. The comment seems to make Sae smile and they finally got to watch their horrible movie.

"Why would you want to watch that?" Sae questions, clearly confused.

"It's the journey, not the end result." Ryuji says dramatically.

He receives a punch in the shoulder from Makoto, "dumbass." She says.

Sae watches the interaction baffled and takes note to join them again.

  
  


Kanoshiro's palace supplies another obstacle. He's halfway certain that Yaldabaoth got the idea from him  _ saying _ the word separated. So yeah, he's dealing with the fact that Yaldabaoth can intervene with the palace so that he can separate him from the group and send shadows squared after him. He's really glad he worked out a deal with Takemi because otherwise he'd be dead. He has a lot more bruises and scratches though, skinned knees and such. That along with magical and elemental injuries which, he can say with confidence, are not fun.

He would like to reaffirm how much he despises Yaldabaoth. And when he gets the chance, he will smite the bastard.

  
  


The past few days had been stressful, leading to the 3rd movie night of the week. As an added bonus seemingly, the detective prince had bumped into them.

More specifically, had bumped into Ryuji, successfully knocking himself to the ground.

"Ah I was wondering when you'd show up." Ryuji says not hesitating to offer him a hand and lift him up off the ground.

"Yes it seems our meetings are consistent." Acheki remarks.

Makoto raises an eyebrow, "Something you'd like to share with me?" She directs it at Ryuji, who she is also linked arms with.

"Oh, terribly sorry for interrupting your date." he says, Ryuji catches onto the fact that it's a little fake. Huh?

"It's not a date." They say simultaneously and then laugh with each other. 

Acheki looks more confused.

"If anything I'm trying to set her up with my friend," Ryuji says.

In retaliation Makoto smacks his arm. She gets redder in the face too.

"I can see the confusion though," she says jestering to their linked arms, "but no, we're just friends." 

He gasps dramatically, "you mean you don't like me in that way? But that was the  _ only _ reason I was hanging out with you! Now we can't be friends." 

They're laughing again.

"Well I wasn't expecting the 2 of you to get along," Akechi says. "What are you doing?"

Ryuji gasps, turning to Makoto, "can we bring him?" 

She shrugs, "Sure?"

Ryuji links their arms together, (Akechi's not blushing, he isn't) and they head out.

In the meantime Makoto texts him, 'what if we make him think we're actually invested in the movie?' 

This inturn leads to the best, worst acting they have collectively done, and the most exaggerated reactions. They know Akechi has caught on but at this point it's for the performance. They're now trying to see who'll make the other break character. 

At the end of the movie they share a look which makes Ryuji break, he starts laughing which makes Makoto laugh too. 

"I win." She says simply.

"Shit," he chokes out between laughs, "that monologue you said about the protagonist, about his strength to be able to carry a box," he laughs again and wipes a tear from his eye.

" Do you do this every movie?" Acheki questions.

"Nah we just wanted to see what kinda shit we could get away with with you." He smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is persona 5 royal there are attacks with two people. One of these is between Ryuji and Makoto and it's based on a show Ryuji apparently watches that looks like it's based on the west. That's where the entirety of the 'underpayed space cowboys' idea came from and sort of the reason they watch bad movies together.
> 
> If you can't tell, I love miss Sakamoto. She supports all his friends and will continue to.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryuji has a show! And a panic attack. Yep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm editing all the chapters send help

Honestly, he really should have expected this at some point. It's not like he's subtle.

They're in mementos and he sees the familiar movement of a shadow squared. Obviously, he goes after the damned thing. It's not like he's let it linger here. Not around his team. 

He's had to get a hang of fighting it as quickly as possible so that he could return to his friends. He starts by running towards it. It meets him halfway and he slams his mace into it.

He has to admit, this one seems weaker then normal. Lightning shoots off of Ryuji in a current and hits the creature. It goes down more easily then expected.

Yeah, Ryuji doesn't trust that for a minute. He sees movement is his perioral vison and does not waste time pulling his mace up to come down upon whatever devil shadow had decided to mess with him that day. 

"Skull!" Morgana yells as Ryuji freezes right before hitting him.

"Jesus, Mona you scared the shit out of me." He lets the tension drain from his body and drops his arms to his side.

"What was that?" Morgana doesn't seem scared or angry, just confused.

Ryuji grimaces. Should he tell him? He would tell Akira and as much as he wants that he can't risk anyone else intervening. But he has to tell him something, and it also has to convince him not to tell Akira. 

"What if.." he trails off. He already started a sentence, he might as well finish it. "What if we're fighting something bigger than what we think we are."

"What?" Morgana seems just as confused as before.

"I mean, we're fighting corrupt adults. But what if we're also fighting something else." He looks at where the shadow was, eyes distant.

"Something else? What do you mean skull?" 

"Are you going to tell joker this?" Ryuji stares him down. "I can't have you telling joker about this, there's no telling what he'll do."

Morgana doesn't get a chance to respond before a roar comes from behind them.

Oh yeah, that.

He curses before jumping into action again. This time the surprise of the shadow causes Ryuji to take a fatal blow. He's fine, he can handle this. He just has to get through the battle and then he'll be able to heal himself.

He feels the effect of healing magic preformed on him. Ryuji turns over to see Morgana beside him, backing him up. He smiles.

It takes a bit longer then the first but with Mona at his side it's much easier than usual. 

"If I promise not to tell Joker can you explain it to me? I mean, I can't really help you otherwise." Mona chides.

"You'd.. help me?" 

Morgana glares at him. "Just because I think you act like an idiot doesn't mean I'd let you face whatever this is alone."

Ryuji gives him a relieved smile. "So I may have crossed something really powerful. And now it sends powerful shadows after us so I have to run off and kill it before it decides to kill us." He doesn't know how much of it he should explain. Maybe not the going back in time thing.

"You what? Why didn't you tell us?" He frowns, obviously hurt that Ryuji hide it and concerned for the same reason.

"Because it puts everyone at risk. I don't want you getting hurt. There's a lot worse things coming and I need you guys to focus on them." 

Morgana looks sceptical. "What did you even do to cross this, 'thing'."

His eyes narrow and he bares his teeth. "A difference of opinion." Don't ask. Don't ask. Don't ask. Don't-

"In what opinion?" Goddamnit Mona.

"Well, he wanted me dead. I didn't. Here we are." 

Morgana did not like that fact. He did not like it at all. "Did you.. know about the metaverse before the rest of the team? And why don't the shadows show up and the navigation system?"

"In a non-traditional sense, yes. And that  _ thing _ I crossed can manipulate the metaverse, so I have no doubt he makes sure they can't show up."

Morgana frowns at his answer but he can't comment on it since they've returned to the group. He goes to Akira's side and talks quietly, but loud enough for both him and Akira to hear.

"I can't believe what an idiot he is! He got lost and couldn't even find his way back on his own." Morgana says.

If not causing suspicion means that Ryuji has to get insulted by Morgana then he'd take it any day over shadows. He really owes him.

When he leaves and returns because of Yaldabaoth's shadows again Morgana is there healing him. He could get used to this.

  
  


It's 2 days till the show and he feels as busy as possible, he teaches Haru how to make coffee in leblanc with Sojiro, goes over to Makoto's to study and help her make dinner which is something she wanted to do for her sister. He sees Ann who takes one look at him and drags him out to get crepes, which after they go to the gym. He goes to work and forces a couple of meals onto Yusuke. Akira notices the strain, and gets him to play videogames, and gets him to talk while cuddled up next to each other. Afterwards they go to get ramen and he feels pumped! And notices a change with his persona. 

He's nervous for the show, all his friends decided to come and support him, but he thinks he's ready. Can't be worse then what he's kinda just come to refer to as shadows squared.

  
  


The group meets up beforehand without Ryuji and with Sojiro who also wanted to come and support him. They go into the club together and get seats along with Miss Sakamoto. After waiting for a bit they finally see the group and enter.

Ryuji has linked arms with a girl with pink hair. She has it in a ponytail and is wearing a cap. 

They're all wearing black clothes though, so they see Ryuji in a plain black tee and black pants, along with black gloves. 

Another notable feature of the 2 is that they look like they fought glitter and  _ lost _ . Ryuji has glitter on his cheeks and in his hair and specks of it just surrounding him, while the girl has it on her hands and shirt and a little on her lips.

What makes this worse is the fact that they high five, getting glitter everywhere and getting a look from their teammate, who they immediately try to coat with glitter, it ends up with a game of glitter tag in the background as their leader introduces their troop.

The pink haired girl next to Ryuji gets a call, which she stands to take, leaving Ryuji with a concerned look, she returns a few seconds later and the group can only see her give him a thumbs up and a wave, before she leaves. 

Akechi arrives later than he'd wanted, having to finish up stuff at the station, and walks in to see Ryuji's entire entourage, he thinks to himself, 'not today' and sits himself at a different table.

He then spots Ryuji and short circuits because the boy has glitter on his face and looks  _ very handsome _ . And also?  _ Adorable _ . What the fuck.

He entertains the thought, because, well, he can't act on it. And it's not like it'll affect anything,  _ no matter how much he wants it to _ . He just likes the attention, that's it. That's what he keeps telling himself. He doesn't think about how easily the other boy slotted into his life, how he charmed him into joining his friends, how they talked at leblanc, and how he'd do the other's hair. He snaps out of his trance and sees that the show has started.

Ryuji has always had an insane amount of energy for what he does, but never to this _level_. Their troop bounces energy to each other tenfold and it is exhilarating to see. They seem to flow around each other and this time are trying to touch each other to spread glitter _everywhere_. They seem to talk through eye contact with silent exchanges and agreements taking place which lead to extremes and laughs. Ryuji makes sure as the _glitteryest_ _person_ to _touch everyone_. He's leaning on whoever is next to him, putting an arm around the shoulders of his friends, and just spreading glitter to the amusement of the small audience they have. 

They end the show with their troop leader thanking the restaurant for having them and offering a toast to their, "lost glitter companion, she had to duck out due to family reasons but she'll be missed." They all jokingly solemnly take the drink. They huddle up in the middle to talk about something and then disperse. Ryuji then gets approached by his other group of dumbasses'.

"So what'd you think?" He manages to ask before getting tackled into a hug.

"You were great!" Ann exclaims.

"I concede, your performance was spectacular." Yusuke adds.

Makoto laughs, "I didn't think you could do actual acting after seeing you recite the monologue from that horrible movie we watched." 

In response to that Ryuji tackles her in an effort to get glitter on her. 

Morgana joins, "yeah, where'd you hide your acting skills Ryuji?"

Ryuji laughs, picking up Morgana. He notices the ever present detective in his life hanging back. "What, you think I'll spare you of glitter?" He asks the boy, turning everyone's attention to him, "get over here."

The boy in question laughs, joining the party. He looks at Ryuji's face, cupping it with his hands. "It's like you have shiny freckles." He says. 

Now the attention is on the 2 of them and Ryuji gets flushed, "want some?" He asks, and brings the boy into a hug. He murmurs, "glad you could make it." Before Miss Sakamoto breaks up the 2 to give Ryuji a hug.

"You seemed so proud of the fact you got glitter  _ everywhere _ ." She says.

He beams, "hell yeah I did! Now, can we go get dinner? I'm starving."

The group needs no more confirmation than that to leave.

  
  


So, fake medjed sucks. And he's in Leblanc with Akira and Boss when they wage war.

"Huh," he says but his eyes tell a different story. 

Akira is staring at the screen, he looks back over to Ryuji, making eye contact as in a 'what should we do?' 

Sojiro just carries on as usual about phantom thieves news though so it's left at that.

  
  


Ann's freaking out about it, so as the good friend he is he takes her out shopping and promises to get sweets later. He lets her order him around, and carries her shopping bags, and lends his opinion when she asks for it.

Luckily for him he sees his favorite detective friend buying gloves.

"Hey, Akechi," he says, he'd probably wave but his arms consist of shopping bags.

Akechi looks up, "ah, have you been dragged along on another escapade of your friends?" He asks, with a hint of amusement in his eyes. "I do wonder what we'd do if we went out. Or at least not seeing each other somewhere coincidentally." 

Ryuji takes the idea into consideration, "I'd probably take you to try everything,"

"Everything?" Akechi asks

" _ Everything. _ " He confirms.

Ann steps out of a changing room in a yellow sundress, "whatcha think?" She asks.

"I still think the blue one," he responds.

She nods and is about to go back in before realizing akechi is present. "Oh hey! What are you doing here?" She asks.

He holds up a pair of gloves.

"That's it? Boy you can do much better than that. Do you even have clothes that aren't detectivey?" She asks.

"Well depends on what you consider 'detectivey'" he says.

"He means no." Ryuji says flatly, making Ann laugh.

"I- I can make a perfectly  _ normal _ outfit." He defends.

"Bet." The other 2 say in sink.

"You only wear tacky neon shirts, what are you even talking about Ryuji?" He says.

"Ooo you going to let him talk to you like that?" Ann prompts.

Ryuji sets down the bags he was holding and pulls up his sleeves, "I'll show you."

And with that the challenge starts, both boys setting off in different directions, much to Ann's amusement. 

They end up back together 15 minutes later with their outfits, akechi has taken an oversized jacket, a smaller t-shirt, and skinny jeans, he apparently found a pair of glasses too. While Ryuji found a jacket and went all out on the punk route, sunglasses and all. 

"Where'd you find the chains??" Ann questioned jestering to the chains on his pants.

"Over there, I thought it would be fun to go to an extreme." He says, "I also found this too." He shows off a simple hairband and walks over to Akechi. "Mind if I?"

"Go ahead." he says.

He gets him to sit down and ends up putting it up in a messy bun.

"You're helping me? Aren't we in a competition?" He says.

"Yep, but how am I supposed to face you knowing you can do better with my assistance."

"You're right, I don't know why you drink coffee." He says, referencing the 'first' time they meet.

"Yeah yeah, shuaddup" he says. He noticed that Akechi seemed to act more  _ real _ around him as of late, and he finds himself  _ enjoying _ it. Although usually when he hangs out with him and his friends he goes back to being fake. Seems like competition brings out the best of him. Or debatably, the worst.

"It seems stylish bisexual Ryuji strikes again." Ann says playfully punching his arm.

"Bisexual?" Akechi questions.

"Yes, didn't you know? My gay half gives me style." He jokes.

"Come on! Do my hair too! Bisexual solidarity!" Ann says sitting herself down.

"Who would I be to deny you my  _ exellent _ skills." He moves over to put her hair into a fancy braid. 

"You 2 should buy what you got." she remarks, as he weaves her hair.

"Eh, don't think I could buy this shit." He says concentrated.

Concentrated enough to not notice the looks he receives from his friends.

"Okay, I'll buy it for you then" she states.

He pauses his braiding, "maybe not?"

"No, you need edgy clothes. Come on Ryuji! Just accept the gift and buy me dessert."

He laughs, "is that all I'm here for?" He jokes.

She swats at his arm, "no of course not, I also need someone to talk about how cute my girlfriend is."

"Ah yes, you've only ranted about how cute she is once this hangout." 

"Yes, she's adorable, I love her very much. But! Right now we are due for ice cream!" She looks over to Akechi, "are you doing anything else today? Because I wouldn't mind another person to rant to about my cute girlfriend." She says.

"Sure, why not." He says, "let me just check." He walks away, pulling out his phone.

Ann immediately turns to him,now having both of them on the bench facing each other, "Why didn't you tell me about him??" She hisses. "When did you get a  _ boyfriend _ and why didn't you tell me??" She grabs his wrists.

"Woah, woah, boyfriend??" He whispers, "he's not my boyfriend!" Clearly freaking out.

"You mean you haven't started dating yet?" She says shifting her hands to be holding his, "you should totally go for it!"

"I just- I don't.. Well, it's. I-" he's red now, trying to resemble his pieces. At first he's just flustered and then his breathing quickens, and he's trying to talk but it's making it worse and it makes it more difficult, which is making him panic more.

"RYUJI, Ryuji breath with me." He processes the fact that Ann has captured him into a hug, and is now coaching him through breathing, he also has taken a moment to realize he was crying. 

He lets himself calm down, and follows what Ann tells him. 

"Are you feeling better?" She asks, looking him over with concern. 

He nods, not feeling up to speaking.

"Do you think ice cream will help?" She's watching him now. 

He shrugs, he tries to say something but it doesn't work. He buries his face into his arms, just tired at this point. He's actually surprised he hasn't freaked out sooner, because this whole situation is just shitty.

Akechi steps back in, looking a bit more fake with his smile. He goes up to them and sees Ryuji's face. 

He kneels down to be face to face with him and grabs his hand, "are you okay?  _ Who did this _ ?"

Ryuji looks up from his arm barrier to the world, he tries to form words. He tries to say that he's okay, that he couldn't say a name even if he wanted to, that this was probably his fault, but all he does is squeeze his hand. He cast a look over to Ann, screaming internally at her to explain because right now he certainly can't.

"He's under a lot of stress right now," she says softly to Akechi, like she's approaching a wounded animal. "I think it all added up so he panicked, right now I think the best thing to do is to let him rest."

Ryuji looks at Ann thankful, and nods at Akechi.

Akechi looks torn, but seems to make up his mind, "alright, just… call if you need anything? I got called into work, but I won't hesitate to come to you." His eyes look determined.

Ryuji nods again and they part. Ann takes him back to his apartment, and texts their friends. She makes sure he eats something, and tucks him into bed, which he gives her a look for. 

She leaves a note to miss Sakamoto, and leaves the apartment, as well as call the group.

"It was pretty bad guys, he had a panic attack." She says with worry.

"Is he okay?" The others ask, insink. 

"He seems better now," she says, "he couldn't talk during and after, he hasn't spoken yet." 

"He'll speak again, I'm sure." Akira says.

The other hum in confirmation.

"Should we be checking on him?" Yusuke asks.

"Yeah, but not all at once." Akira says.

"I think I know someone to bring to him." Makoto says, "remember the pink haired girl that had to leave their improv show? I think it'll be good for him to see her."

  
  


When Haru gets approached by Makoto, she doesn't know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't a request to go talk with Ryuji. Makoto explains that he had a panic attack, and that his other friends are doing the most they can and would appreciate her help with helping Ryuji.

That's how she finds herself in front of the Sakamoto residence.

She knocks on the door, and after a few seconds it opens, standing there is a woman, she has long black hair that's put up into a bun, she's wearing casual clothes and is holding a spatula, "ah are you one of my boy's friends? They've been coming in and out all day, it's nice to see how many people care about him. I know he gave you all a scare."

"Uh yeah, I came over to check on him," she says with uncertain determination.

"Well come on in." She says leaving to go continue what she was doing. "Ryuji! One of your friends is here! She's cute too," she says in a motherly complementing way.

"Okay!" Comes the response and a door opens, revealing Ryuji, who seems fine for just about a second before he sees  _ her _ .

  
  


Ryuji opens his door and sees Haru and  _ god  _ was he not emotionally prepared to see her. He'd been fighting his thoughts all day, distracted by his friends.  _ He has no idea what he feels for Akechi, and seeing the friend who's father he murdered was certainly not helping _ .

"Hey," he says.

"Hi," she replies, soft and kind which is totally fine, it's not affecting his conscience at all, no siree. She seems to notice this, as she grabs his hand and leads him into his room, they sit down. "What's wrong?" She says, immediately cutting to the chase.

He thinks about the situation for a sec, trying to see how he could possibly say and or reskin it. "If makoto tried to murder me, failed spectacularly, and did some other horrible, unforgivable things would you still have a crush on her." He says it as blunt as possible, no filter in his voice.

"Honestly? Yeah." She replies matching his tone. "She's the person she is now and even though that doesn't change the things she hypothetically did, I know that once she changed her viewpoint she would be absolutely unstoppable in trying to right her wrongs."

Well, Akechi hadn't really realized the 'error in his ways'. What if.. what if he can never get him to? What if he dies before then?

He cuts off that train of thought. His best friend just confessed that she'd still have a crush on a girl even if she was a murderer.

This makes him laugh, something he hadn't done for days, he laughs so hard that he's crying again, and he lifts up his knees to bury his face in. 

She rubs circles in his back, until his breathing returns to normal and his shoulders stop shaking. 

"I don't know what's going on," she says honestly, "and I don't if I'll ever find out, but I do know I'll be there for you, as much as I possibly can." 

He looks up from his knees, and gives her a hug. "I swear I'll protect you," he murmurs. He breaks from the hug and sniffles,"Ugh, I feel all effing nasty from that. I think I need a tissue."

They end up getting hot chocolate and lounging on the couch, and when ryuji goes to sleep haru heads out.

  
  


"Chariot," a nasty demonic voice bellows.

He glares at the source.

"Yaldabaoth. You having fun with this?" He moves, but then notices the chains. Figures huh.

They look.. bigger. Like there's more of them.

"You think you can change my chosen champion do you?" He asks with an unnatural smile.

"I guess we'll just see," he says and collapses.

  
  


He went to work after school, storing his bag and donning his apron. Today Akira sits at the bar stool, and it's still weird that they've switched.

"If someone very badly tryed to murder you, how would you feel about them?" He asks.

Sojiro, who is a couple feet away, looks over to him confused.

Akira puts down his cup of coffee, "Eh depends on why." He says simply.

Ryuji cleans the counter next to him. "What if, what if they've done some really unforgivable things, to people close to you. And they have to kill you to achieve something else."

Akira nods and takes the question into consideration, "I think it's up to those people to decide if they forgive them, and if they don't, that's fine. It wouldn't be the first time I'm used for some big plan, and it's not like they're going to succeed," he gives Ryuji a small smile. "So I wouldn't really care about them."

Ryuji thinks to himself about this, but can't act on it before Akira calls them all together, and they get a text from Alibaba.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Morgana gets to join the, 'helping Ryuji with Yaldabaoth team'. He definitely needs it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Futaba joins the fray!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to have a consistent update schedule, but I've already screwed that over so here we are.

Alibaba is kinda just them going around with little information and worse communication. Now that he can look back on it, it's kinda hilarious. It reminds him that their first meetings with vitually everyone in their group is odd and he loves it. 

Now though, they're on a hunt for information. After, it starts raining and they enter boss's house, (his  _ boss's house _ ) and run into Futaba. Or, Makoto runs into Futaba, they both get scared and run away, Sojiro comes home and explains, and the group is left wondering what to do. They eventually approach her, at her door and talk to her. Makoto leads like before, and Akira adds in his own helpful comments. They end up getting the hint that they needed, and go through the desert to her tomb.

He remembers the many puzzles inside and the sad scriptures of her past. They work their way through her palace. He keeps an eye out for the usual Yaldabaoth sent monsters and tricks but sees none.  _ That's.. concerning _ . 

He looks over to Ann, she's next to him. And then he looks over to Haru who's on his other side. 

_ What? _

He turns to Haru and then hears a roar from a Yaldabaoth shadow. And then he stops thinking. 

The shadow immediately goes after her, and he can't stop himself from stepping in. He pulls her away from it in a fluid motion and then turns to her.

She has a knife.

_ Well then _ . He looks to Ann who is decidedly not Ann.  _ Guess there's three of them _ .

And that's his last thought he has before a knife is plunged into him by a shadow wearing the mask of his friend.

So he does what's required of him, and fights three shadow assassins with a knife residing in his chest. This has just breached the list of stuff he never wanted to happen and certainly doesn't want to do again.

At some point he'll fill his quote for whatever this bullshit is and never have to deal with something like this again.

He's got, what? Three palaces of this left to go?

Maybe he should focus on the knife.

Yeah he should focus on the knife.

Oh wait it fell out during the battle.

Maybe he should put it back?

"Joker!" He yells. He sits down, not wanting to move with his wound more than he already had. 

He hears a lot of people yelling for him, "skull, where are you!"

"I'm in here!" He yells. He's feeling lightheaded. Wow, that's a lot of blood. He puts pressure on it with his hands.

He sees Akira run to the entrance of the room, spot him, and freeze. 

He looks like he's not entirely present as he says softly, "hi, I think I'm succumbing to blood loss." He waves his hand, it's covered in blood. So maybe it's not the comferting jester he was going for.

Akira rushes to his side as the others make their way to the room and see him in a puddle of his blood. He heals him to the best of his ability, alongside Ann and Morgana who have also come to his side to help. 

He turns to Akira, "if the man who's trying to kill me succeeds would you avenge me?"

Akira nods, more focused on the task at hand then his words.

"Cool." He says and then passes out.

  
  


When it's time to steal her treasure they come back to her. They overcome her cognition of her mother with her help, and he's still proud of her. Then, again, he witnesses her pass out which is  _ still concerning. _

And then he thinks back to a bit ago where  _ he _ passed out and winces.

He also thinks of the fact Akechi  _ murdered her mom _ . He hates his consiouses, and his feelings even more.

  
  


_ She out for about a week and he thinks to himself, what the fuck? _ He's going to make sure she's actually getting enough nutrients to sustain herself.

She finally gains consciousness and Ryuji remarks, "glad you could join the land of the living." 

And again, she beats the fake² medjed with ease.  _ He's so fucking proud of her _ .

  
  


They go to the beach for their celebration, and he strongly misses their final teammate. Before it was more bearable, as it just felt like it did when they hung out and a couple of them couldn't make it. But now he feels the void of her presence, he misses hanging out with her in the group, although when they are hanging out he always expects her to comment on something, to be a dumbass with him. He still hangs out with her, but it's not the same as having all of them together.

A beach celebration is kind pretty great for the group, after getting Futaba to join their fold they take this chance to have a break and have fun and instead of going after girls (seriously why did he do that?) He gets some quality time with his friends. He makes sandcastles with Yusuke and Ann, has a water fight with Futaba and Makoto, and tries to get Akira to give him a piggyback ride (with limited success). When they're all eating he again hears Morgana comment on Makoto's eating. His eyes narrow as he looks at her, "you better be eating."

Yusuke looks at him, "it seems Ryuji strikes again."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean??"

Ann cuts in, "it  _ means _ that you consistently get onto people about eating right. Which, I mean, isn't a bad thing but why do you worry so much about it?"

Ryuji sighs, "my ma was pretty bad about getting food after she left my father, it got pretty bad." 

The group is pretty silent at that, seeing as it had a different significance to him.

"And I just don't want that to happen to anyone else I care about you know?" He says it with a smile. 

The mood seems to lift from the group after he says that.

"And Futaba is totally next on the list of people I'm getting to eat a  _ healthy _ meal." In response to that she groans.

  
  


It was honestly weird seeing the people he knows and loves come into themselves, it's weird to see how much they  _ change _ because he hadn't _ noticed _ before. Maybe it was because he was changing too, he concludes.

  
  


He's hanging out with Akira playing video games. The dude has been stressed out lately,  _ not that he'd say anything _ , so Ryuji went over to Leblanc, tattled to Sojiro, and got the boy to  _ sit down _ and distracted him with games until he  _ slept _ . Akira clocked out on his shoulder and he doesn't have the heart to move him so he just let's him reside there. He texted the group chat to say that he's stealing Akira for the day. He also makes sure to text Sojiro and them that he passed out. 

Morgana, who's sitting on the other side of him, comments, "how'd you know he was tired?"

"Eh he has little tells." He shrugs.

He hears footsteps and turns to see a resurved futaba. She squeaks, "oh! S-sorry I just wanted to talk with Akira." She says, still nervous to talk with him.

He chuckles softly, "it's fine? He's really tired though, so maybe try again another time?" He says, he clicked away, half of his attention on the screen.

"Wow, what is your friendship level to have him sleep leaned on you?" She asks curiously, dropping all anxiety as she often did when she found a topic of interest.

"Max level." He says with mock seriousness. "Also the fact that he's been overworking himself and probably tired as eff."

Her eyes crinkle fondly and she smiles at that. "Was your plan all along to get him to sleep?"

"Yep." He picks up the controller from the other boy's lap. "You want to play?"

"I'll have you know you're going to be destroyed!" She exclaims, quieter than she usually would because of Akira.

Morgana sighs, "wish I could play video games."

Ryuji hated seeing him like this, the feeling that he's useless.

"I'm sure you would get beat by Futaba like me." He remarks.

"Yeah you're going down sucka!" She exclaims. 

Morgana scoffs, "no way!"

Ryuji boops him on the nose, "she beat medjed, which I'm sure is not the only hacking feat she's done, this is probably a walk in the park for her." He says with a smile.

They end up playing video games into the evening, when Akira wakes up. He quietly shifts, so Futaba doesn't recognize that he has, but Ryuji says, "welcome to the conscious world my man." 

Futaba now notices Akira is indeed awake. 

Akira nods but goes back to resting on his shoulder, he murmurs, "you're comfy." And Ryuji laughs.

"And you're sleep deprived. What else is new?" 

They end up getting dinner together at leblanc, specifically curry. Sojiro seems to be happy the 3 are getting along, and as quiet as Akira always is, his company is easily felt by his companions. 

He's about to leave when sojiro pulls him aside, "Thanks for looking out for my kid, I didn't even know how tired he was."

Ryuji smiles, but doesn't comment on the fact Sojiro called Akira his. "No problem." 

He heads out and checks his phone and realizes the  _ grave mistake  _ he made.

Ryuji had texted, 'im stealing Akira today'

To which Ann replied, 'okay?'

And a few hours later in the group chat he texted, 'he finally po'd' to which the group spammed with questions.

They were freaking out about the fact Akira apparently passed out and Ryuji was dumb enough to  _ forget  _ that that was cause for concern.

Ryuji : THAT CAME OUT WRONG HES FINE

Makoto : Ryuji, I love but I swear if you pull something like this again

Ann : RYUJI YOU CANT JUST SAY HE PASSED OUT AND THEN NOT EXPLAIN YOURSELF

Ann : WE'VE HAD A PROBLEM WITH PASSING OUT RECENTLY DO NOT TEST ME

Ryuji : sorry

Ryuji : He's just been exhausted lately so I got him to sleep? He passed out on my shoulder like 4 hours ago, the idiot has been overworking himself recently

Yusuke : I hadn't noticed our leader had been tired as of late, how did you notice?

Ryuji : really? He did that head bobbing thing that he usually does at our meeting before we went into the metaverse. He has been doing that thing, the one where he shifts things around in his hands, which he only does when he's stressed out and when he's stressed out he doesn't sleep. When we went over the other day he had a cup of coffee  _ before  _ the meeting, something he has when his blatant attempt at sleep doesn't work. 

Ann : anyone else more scared of Ryuji now?

Makoto : I think that's a fair assessment

Ryuji : hey! If I don't notice these things the guy will pass out somewhere where no one wants him to. And all I did was play video games with him until he fell asleep

Akira : I resent the accuracy of that statement

Ryuji :  _ Go to sleep Akira _ .

  * Akira is now offline -



Futaba : never have I meet a man more powerful

Ryuji : shuaddup

Ryuji : you're not off the hook either Ms. I'm going to work with all my energy and pass out for a  _ week _

Futaba : epp!

  * Futaba is now offline -



Ryuji : anyone else I need to scare into getting sleep before I leave?

  
  


Ryuji somehow ends up at the Sakura family residence. Well, it's not somehow, it's because Futaba invited him, which still kinda baffles him, because he had to do  _ something _ right? He has played video games with Futaba before, and hung out too, but never at her  _ house _ . What did he do to get her to relax around him so fast??

He gets woken up from his small existential crisis by the door opening, reveling in all her glory, Futaba. 

It's undeniably awkward at first, but after they start they regain their sense of familiarity. 

Eventually Sojiro comes into the room, his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. Ryuji feels his judging eyes on the back of his head. 

Futaba is laying stomach down on her bed while Ryuji sits on the floor, leaning against it, and now with the added addition of Sojiro, who is sitting in a chair watching them.

Futaba doesn't pick up on the awkwardness, that or she optionally ignores it, and continues with her most recent win.

"Ha HA, I gotcha again!" She says rather smugly.

"Yeah, yeah, you bored of beating me yet?" He jokes.

She nods, "yes, and I demand that we go to get victory curry." 

"How gracious of you." He snarks.

"Yes, I must lord my victory over you, peasant."

He sighs, "sure, but I'm bringing my ma, so she can know of my defeat."

Futaba nods sagely and he ruffles her hair. 

And again, he finds himself having dinner with the Sakuras'. Akira gets back and his mom shows up and eventually Sojiro's scrutinizing glare lessenes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gave a shadow a knife, I'm sorry.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hawaii second time round

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have noticed, spelling and capitalization is not my strong suit, I am sorry.

Futaba and Akira are sitting down at the bar while Ryuji and Sojiro work when Akechi comes in. 

"Hey stranger, what can I get for you?" He says leaning a little bit over the counter.

Akechi smiles when he sees him, "I'll have a coffee and a curry to go." 

Ryuji frowns a little bit. "Aw you're not staying?" He goes to start making the coffee.

Akechi laughs a little bit. "I'm afraid not."

"Well I've just started with making curry, so I hope you don't want to spit it out." He jokes.

"Please, I'm sure anything you make will be great." Akechi says with a smile.

He finishes the order and rings him up. "Well I guess you'll just have to tell me the next time you see me."

"I guess I will." He says and he leaves the store with a little wave.

"Wow, you just flirted with him  _ right _ in front of my curry didn't you." Futaba says. "The audacity."

Akira cracks an amused smile at this, "Wow Ryuji, didn't know you had it in you." The fact that he commented on it at all was saying something.

"We didn't! It's not- I didn't" 

"Wow, I think you broke him. He's short circuiting, didn't know how far gone he was." Futaba observers.

Sojiro is looking all this over, "Your interactions with him sure do make a lot more sense now." He muses with a smirk.

"Boss! You too!?" If it came to matters about teasing he could expect his friends to be right on that, but not Sojiro.

"Look me in the eye and tell me you don't feel at least an  _ ounce _ of attraction to him." Sojiro replies easily.

Futaba is flat out laughing at him while Akira is damn near it. He can tell he's red to the ears, but ignores them, not wanting to make it worse.

  
  


He's walking with a bag of gardening supplies that Haru asked him to get. He can't say no to her and the sooner that he accepted that the easier it was to move on with his life. He's walking back towards the school from the shop when he spots a semi-familiar figure. A brunette with his hair up in casual clothing.

"Yo 'kechi!" He waves a gloved hand at him.

The boy in question turns around to see him. "Didn't take you for the gardening type."

Ryuji smiles, "it's for a friend, we're harvesting coffee and tomatoes." He takes into consideration the situation for about a second, "want to come?"

Akechi shrugs, "Sure, why not. It'll probably be an interesting experience anyway."

"Great!" Ryuji says. He then hands him a bag and then sets off in the direction of the school.

Akechi takes this in stride before joining him.

A phantom thief, an ace detective, and a future phantom thief garden together. It's weird to think about. Ryuji walks through the door to the roof and spots Haru seems to be sorting the stuff they already have.

"Hello Ryuji." She greets and then looks over his shoulder to see Akechi. "Did you pull someone in to carry your bags?" She says it with a hint of amusement.

"And to help us in the garden. Come on Haru, I gotta exploit our friendship to get him to do other things too." He jokes and she playfully hits him.

"Why don't you and him harvest the tomatoes, I'll get to work on the coffee beans." 

They work like clockwork, bantering along with Ryuji guiding Akechi on what to do. He catches on relativity quickly and they get through the bulk of it. 

Haru takes off her gloves, "that should be it for today, we'll have to come by tomorrow to plant the new seeds." 

Ryuji nods, he takes a water bottle and drinks some. 

She turns to Akechi too. "Thanks for your help today! Feel free to join us again."

  
  


Ryuji is listening to Hawaii part ii on repeat, he's listening to it on the plane ride there and the title just makes him laugh.

"What's so funny?" Akira asks with an amused smile, he's sitting next to him.

"Nothing, dude."

  
  


They go through their first day at hawaii, and the next morning Ryuji texts Akechi,

Ryuji : hey, I haven't seen you in a bit, still alive?

He doesn't respond, and Ryuji didn't expect him to, but that looks at his phone.

Akechi : ah, sorry. It seems I've been swamped with work recently.

Ryuji glares down his phone, as if it would do anything.

Ryuji : it should be 3am where you are my man. Why are you awake?

Akechi : I couldn't sleep.

Ryuji looks at the clock, he should have time to call him.

"Hello?" He says softly.

"Hello, Ryuji." The voice on the other line is tired.

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm managing." He avoids.

"Can you go to sleep?" He pleads softly, "it doesn't matter if you can't sleep for long, just get some." 

The other end is silent for a few seconds, "I'll try."

Ryuji sighs, "I'll talk to you later."

"Wait."

"Yeah?"

"Call me Goro."

  
  


Goro doesn't  _ understand _ . He somehow let this boy crawl into his life and he can't stop thinking about him. He underestimated him and it confuses him. He makes him feel  _ horrible _ , like he needs to laugh, and scream, and cry all at once which is  _ stupid _ . He doesn't know how someone could have such an  _ effect _ on him and he  _ despises  _ the experience. But at the same time, Ryuji makes him want to be  _ better _ . He  _ wants _ to be a better person  _ for him _ . And he wants to be  _ around _ him. And he wants him to play with his  _ stupid hair _ . And go through the city together. And he  _ knows _ this is somehow  _ Ryuji's fault _ but he doesn't know  _ how _ . Ryuji occupies his thoughts more often than not now and with his work being more stressful than usual, (nothing he couldn't handle, unless you take into account his new  _ tormenter _ ) he finds it hard to sleep. And then he gets a call from  _ him _ . And his voice is soft with care and laced with worry as he begs Goro to sleep. What else can he do but try to comply? He doesn't even realize what he asked him at the end of the call until  _ later _ which is embarrassingly enough around  _ Sae _ .

He's holding his cup of coffee, his hand is trembling ever so slightly, and his composer breaks, " _ shit. _ "

She looks him over with concern, "Akechi are you okay?" She studies him for a moment and notices his tremble.

He smiles fakely but even that is crumbling, "I'm fine."

She sighs, "A kid like you shouldn't be overworking yourself."

"I'm not overworking myself." He snaps and immediately regrets it. Sae didn't do anything wrong, she was simply worried for his well being.

"Sorry." He murmurs putting his hand over his eye.

Normally Sae would get angry back at them when anyone got snappish at her but she seems to decide against it. She sits him down (he lets her) and takes his cup of coffee, which she sets on the table. She sits next to him and puts down her own cup of coffee on the table.

"Do we need to talk with someone to lessen your workload." She demands.

"No, no, it's not that." He says shaking his head.

"Then what's bothering you?"

"It's this boy," he looks over to Sae, who looks confused. "We always seemed to run into each other, and he has now seemingly occupied all my thoughts now. How did this happen? What did he do?" He rants, angry and confused.

Sae softens, "Akechi… have you ever had a crush before?"

He…  _ what _ ? "I couldn't.. he, I- but he?" He's regressed to a stuttering mess in seconds, and he hates how powerless it makes him feel. He can't  _ like  _ his rival's best friend, none the less  _ love the boy _ . He was planning on  _ infiltrating the goddamn group for gods sake _ . 

Sae gently puts an arm around his shoulders, the both of them were not very good at physical affection so he tenses a bit, and says, "it's okay for you to like the boy you know,"

He nods numbly, "Maybe  _ a _ boy, but I don't know if I can like  _ this _ one." He mutters quietly.

Sae looks confused, but doesn't push him to continue.

  
  


He didn't forget that Ann and him crashed at Akira's room during the trip. He did however forget that they talked about crushes. Which, in the grand scheme of things, also known as making sure nobody dies, he's pretty sure he hasn't had the liberty to. 

So when asked about his type he shrugs, "I don't know." 

Ann looks at him. "Do you have a different type when it comes to boys and girls?"

"I haven't really thought about it. I don't know, people can just be pretty I guess." He feels like she's trying to lead him to something, he doesn't know how much he'll like the conclusion.

"Anyone in particular?" Ann knows what she's doing. And then she continues, "and does it happen to be a certain pretty boy detective?" 

He laughs a bit, "he is pretty." He can catch the gleam from Ann's expression from the corner of his eye. "But he's kinda an asshole," he says animatidly, "and I'd hate for my type to end up being pretty assholes."

Ann laughs, "at least that'd make two of you."

She gets silenced with a pillow to the face.

  
  


He debates hanging out with Haru before debating the fact it could change things more so, so he just avoids her (sadly) but he doubts she remembers he's on this trip. 

They get up to their usual tomfuckery which is quite entertaining but also exactly the same, they're sitting in a restaurant when he gets a call from none other than Akechi.

He stands suddenly, "I uh, need to take this." 

They give him looks, which he ignores.

"Hey Goro," he says, testing the name on his tongue. He smiles a little to himself.

"Ryuji, I… " he trails off, "I couldn't sleep."

"Okay, what do you want me to do?" He asks.

"I don't, know.. I just-" He responds, tired and confused.

Ryuji ends up talking about what they've done on their trip, the amount of bullshit they've pulled off as a collective and the amount Makoto had to try to get them to stop, before being pulled in herself.

"That sounds like Niigima," he says.

"Yeah, we also tried karaoke which is as chaotic as you'd expect."

"Oh? Did you sing anything?"

"Yeah a couple, even got to sing with my friends. Makoto and I made it a challenge to find the most bullshit straight love song to duet together." He laughs. And then unprompted starts humming the first toon that comes into mind. Akechi, Goro he guesses now, falls silent and after a few minutes he decides to hang up.

"Goodnight, Goro." He says and hangs up.

It's been about ten minutes, and he steps back into the shop. He spots his dumbasses arguing about something.

"But it's got to be him right?" Exclaims Ann.

"I don't know, it could be his mom or something." Says Makoto.

He approaches them. "Whatcha talking about?"

Yusuke, master of tact, says, "they're debating who you were on the phone with. Ann thinks it to be akechi, while the rest of us doubt that."

He continues on, "although I'm sure the rest of us have had an experience hanging out with the two of you." 

Ann and Makoto nod but Akira looks confused.

"What, was I supposed to? I only saw them together once."

"Well, based on my last experience with them, it seems like they run into each other rather often." 

Makoto nods, "yeah the last time we hung out you bumped into Akechi, and said 'I was wondering when you'd show up'. How often do you run into each other?"

Maybe he should be glad that the topic has shifted from who he's on the phone with to the man in question, but he isn't. "I don't know? I mean, I guess we do? I see him at leblanc and we end up running into each other often enough that I kinda just expect it at least once a week."

They all give him looks, each one varies though.

"Do I need to give him the shovel talk as your best friend?" Akira asks, though Ryuji can hear the hint of sarcasm in his voice. Ryuji is too busy turning a bright shade of red to care about this fact though.

Ann laughs, "I honestly want to see that."

"That would be quite amusing." Makoto agrees. "Though he'd have to get a lot more shovel talks then just you." She adds.

Akira nods, "of course."

Ryuji, weakly, says, "come on guys.. it's not like that." He groans and puts his head on the table, holding his face in his eyes. " 'Sides wouldn't being a thief put a damper on the relationship? The guy literally has a case for us." And has tried to dismantle us from the inside and kill our leader. And helped murder people for political gain. But that's all in the future.

The others grimace. 

Makoto punches him in the arm, "yeah you always had a weird type. Sure know how to pick em." She says as a joke to lighten the mood.

He lets her. "Ugh, don't bully me." He says lifting his head and pushing her too. 

They spend their evening forgetting about his predicament, and then return home.

  
  


He's walking to the station from leblanc when he gets a text from Goro.

Goro : my co-worker invited me over for dinner, I was wanting to know if you would like to come with me?

Ryuji : Sure? Do I need to bring anything?

Goro : just yourself, I'll come over to walk with you okay?

He later finds himself with Goro in front of the Niigima residence and is internally cursing up a storm because  _ how the hell did he forget sae was his co-worker _ .

Goro knocks on the door and it opens revealing Makoto. "Ryuji? What are you doing here?"

"Um I'm a plus one? I guess." He says. "Hi."

She smiles and gives a look to Goro, "come on in."

She leads them to the table and goes to help Sae bring out the food.

Sae comes in, looks him over, and also gives Goro a look similar to what makoto gave him, and Ryuji comes to the stunning realization.  _ This is the closest to him intoducing me to his family isn't it, holy shit. _

"Hello Sakamoto." She says rather calmly, but he feels her looking at him. And looking for  _ something _ .

"Hi again." He says and Goro looks at him.

"You two know each other?" Goro asks.

"Yep Makoto wanted to drag her into watching bad movies with us. Don't worry, that time we didn't do a dramatic reenactment of the protagonists monologue about friendship, or the cringey and forced couple." He has a grin on his face and a laugh on his tongue and Makoto is matching his smile.

"What, you mean you don't want to act it out again? The first time was enough?"

Sae looks as amused as she can at this. "It seems as if we all need to get together and watch 'cringy movies' again soon."

They get to eating for a bit until Sae asks, "How did you two meet?"

"I do believe we meet at Leblanc, and then again when you were on a field trip to the TV studio."

Ryuji nods at what Goro said, "and then you ran into me after being chased by fangirls. And I guess we've been friends since?"

"Well I'm glad you're friends." Sae says pointedly at Goro and Ryuji had never felt more like he's missing something.

Makoto starts cleaning up, and Sae turns to Goro. "Why don't you go help her." He looks at her for a second, and then nods. Ryuji feels as if their roles had switched.

"How do you feel about him?" She asks with a raised eyebrow. She cuts right to chase, something he can appreciate, but that doesn't stop him from turning red.

"I.." he pauses, and tests the words on his tongue, "I like him." It feels  _ right _ to say, it  _ fits _ . "But I can't pursue a relationship right now. There's a lot going on in my life." 

She nods in understanding, and sighs. "I guess we'll see."

Goro ends up walking him to the station, in which they accompany each other in comfortable silence.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haru! Is! Here! And she never misses an opportunity to support her boy! Ryuji is having a Not Fun time as one does when facing false gods but everything's okay as long as you have friends along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for being away for so long! This week I wanted to post but my week decided to screw me over :( Over the weekend I've had time to recuperate and see some friends of mine so I'm doing better now :)

They argue over Okumera again, and it's a bitter argument when Morgana leaves. Everyone is kinda dazed after he leaves, but Ryuji snaps them out of it saying, "we gotta find him, and get him back." 

It's kinda stupid honestly, but he figures Mona needs this so he doesn't intervene to let him figure out his own worth. They run around and see Haru and him, and yet again she 'yes ands' him, much to Ryuji's pride after he has seen the work that came behind it. They eventually get out of mementos with Haru and Morgana and Ryuji picks her up and hugs her.

"That was the most  _ stupid _ 'yes and' situation I've ever seen." He says. "I mean, I love your devotion to it, but beauty thief? Really?"

The rest of his friends look at him with confusion.

Morgana comments, "you know each other??"

"All of you literally went to  _ our _ improv show. I'm kinda glad you found her, since you're dealing with self worth issues, which we were really worried about you for and we don't want you to feel that way, and haru's just a great friend in general." He says.

He completely ignores the looks he gets from everyone else and focuses solely on Haru, "you did so good!"

She laughs in his arms, "I have an axe! It's so weird!"

He puts her down and lets go of her. 

Just then her fiance comes over and, you know, is his normal asshole self.

She handles the situation, and he resisted the urge to punch the guy. She gets the bitch to leave and he pulls her into another hug, "sorry you have to deal with that asshole." 

She sighs, "My fiance just, yeah."

Ann cuts in, "fiance??"

And with that their interaction carries on somewhat like last time.

Morgana quietly says, "You were really worried?"

"Of fucking course we were." Ryuji says it like it's the simplest thing in the world. "Sure we had a  _ spat _ but that wouldn't change that."

Morgana looks significantly more relieved, "but, are we going to go into Okumera's palace?"

"I mean, I want to but it still has to be a unanimous thing. Though it's Haru's dad who's, excuse my language, being a fucking idiot."

The group, who's been explained Haru's situation because of her fiancee, agrees that they should go after the palace.

"Hell yeah!!" Ryuji exclaims. He puts his arm around her shoulders, which she in turn does to him too.

They're smiling at each other before they realize they have onlookers.

"Excuse me, this is one of my best friends, I'm aloud to be glad at helping her out with her asshole dad." He says joking.

She pokes his face and he laughs, they have a kind of familiarity that shows they have a bond of trust. 

Akira smiles warmly at her, "would you like to join our Ryuji protection squad? We have a particular person we need to give the shovel talk for Ryuji."

"I honestly don't know why I let my friends meet if you guys keep pulling this shit." He groans.

Haru laughs at him and turns back toward Akira, shaking his hand, "of course. Would it happen to be the guy he's had a crush on, and has been ranting about to me for the past few weeks?"

Ann sharply inhales, "ooo right under the bus. She'll fit right in."

Ryuji's red now, and has taken to burying his face in his hands. "What. You want me to out you too?" He asks.

She too now turns red, "I have a fiance."

"That we are totally _ getting away  _ from you so.." he trails off, now shifting his focus back to her.

She seems to take this into consideration, and she smiles, "I guess so."

  
  


It's raining and he's riding the train to get dinner. It's after a trip to the palace and he's  _ so glad _ to have Haru  _ back _ . He grabs himself a soda at the convenience store and walks out to see a familiar figure who he hasn't seen for at least a week.

Ryuji looks at Goro, who hasn't seemed to notice him, the boy doesn't have an umbrella and is sporting a nasty bruise.

He walks over to him and makes sure the umbrella provides him cover.

"Here," he says putting the cold soda can on it. 

Akechi Goro seems to notice his presence, and takes the offered can to put up to his face.

He notices that Goro is in deep thought and seems to react to the world rather numbly. He puts an arm around the other's and starts walking home.

Goro looks on in surprise but doesn't question it, he looks tired. 

Ryuji leads him to his apartment in silence, not asking anything of him. He opens the door and sets down his umbrella and takes off his coat.

He puts on the kettle and pulls out some mugs and gets Goro to sit on the couch. A couple minutes later he comes out with 2 cups of tea and an ice pack, which he trades for the soda.

He sits down on the couch next to him, puts a blanket over their laps, and leans onto the boy's shoulder.

"You aren't going to ask?" 

"No, you'll tell me if you want to. And if you don't want me to know you won't."

They fall into silence again. Eventually, Ryuji puts down both their mugs and huddles under the shared blanket.

It isn't long before they fall asleep.

  
  


So, venturing into your best friend's father's effed up cognition, and trying to steal his treasure is good and all, and that definitely includes the fake God who wants to control and/or kill all of humanity who's actively trying to murder them.

He feels like Yaldabaoth has doubled the amount of machinations in this palace if his injury count is anything to go by. That, and he's very adamant about getting him separated from everyone. 

Needless to say Ryuji is running on a significant amount of caffeine. 

They end up defeating Okumera but now his palace is falling apart and Ryuji's priorities change to saving the man's life.

Everyone else leaves, he makes sure of that and he hides away enough to jump out and get the guy out of the way of a bullet when prompted. 

"What are you doing?" The shadow Okumera asks.

"Get out," he says, "go home to your daughter."

The man in question nods and disappears.

He turns his attention to the masked man. "Better go before this place collapses." He says before booking it.

He feels  _ euphoria _ and  _ hopes  _ this works. This better  _ fucking work _ . He's booking it down the halls and finally meets his friends.

"Where did you go?" Akira questions.

"Okay don't freak out." Ryuji says out of breath.

Makoto raises an eyebrow, "that really doesn't help."

"Yeah okay well. I found it weird that the black mask guy kept on going to palaces of people we've been taking hearts from so I figured it might be worth it to stay back? Anyway he tried to shoot the cognition of Okumera but I pulled him out of the way and told him to leave and then I got the hell out of there." 

" **_What_ ** ." Says Makoto.

"I told you to not freak out!" He says.

"You stopped someone from murdering my dad?" Haru questions, tears welling up in her eyes, "thank you Ryuji." Her voice is muffled because she pulled him into a hug.

"Of course." He says rubbing circles into her back.

"Ryuji! We gotta celebrate!" Adds Ann. 

The others nod in agreement. 

For some reason Ryuji has a bad feeling about what's to come. He  _ has _ to be ready. He  _ will _ be. For them.

  
  


He doesn't consider the phantom thieves hurtful words as bad, and it probably has something to do with how he grew up. That is, until Haru calls them out on it. He never expected Haru, the woman who always seems to put up with everyone calls  _ her friends _ out for  _ him _ .

It starts with a comment from Morgana. He doesn't think about it. He doesn't  _ think about it _ .  _ He doesn't think about it _ . It's  _ fine _ . 

Haru looks at him. She  _ looks  _ at him. She can easily disern his acting from how he really is easily now, and as sure as hell notices how fake he gets.

" _ Morgana _ ." She says with a bone chilling tone. The world seems to slow and Morgana looks at her confused.

"What was  _ that _ ." She's  _ angry _ , she's  _ never angry _ . She didn't  _ get _ angry when her father screwed her over, she didn't get angry when she dealt with her  _ shitty fiance _ . Why was she angry now?

"What was what?" The cat asks, confused.

Her glare does not falter. "You continuously insult Ryuji, why? He hasn't done anything to you. Why hasn't anyone stopped you?" She's soft spoken and her words carry weight. She shakes her head, "he'd do anything for you guys. Why would you do this to him?"

The group is called out too with her words. Ryuji remains silent not knowing what to say.

"It's just teasing," Morgana tries to defend.

"Oh?  _ Tell me how constantly degrading a person is teasing _ . Morgana, you  _ know _ I've been on the other end of harassment, try telling me  _ it's not _ that."

"I- it's, Ryuji he.. he would have told us if-" he finally notices Ryuji. Ryuji who is  _ trembling _ .

"Sorry." He says and his voice  _ breaks _ . "I'm sorry. I didn't-" his breath hitches. He laughs a water chuckle, and it's a small and broken thing. "I guess I'm just used to degrading comments."

Futaba  _ slams  _ him into a hug. "I'm so sorry we did this to you. You don't deserve this."

"I should have told you. I-" He feels another set of arms wrap around him. He looks over to see Akira. Akira, the guy who had a hard time showing emotions, who wasn't usually the type for physical affection, hugging him with a look of concern on his face. "I let it go too far, I should have intervened and for that I'm sorry."

Morgana, Ann, Yusuke, and Makoto are silent through this. 

Ann moves in to also give him a hug, along with Makoto. Yusuke, not the physical type, puts a hand on his shoulder.

Morgana remains where he is, his head low.

  
  


They're hanging out in Leblanc (Akira, Futaba, Sojiro and him) and Ryuji is on his 3rd cup of coffee. Sojiro gives him a look, and at this point they've been around each other enough for Sojiro to want to address that. 

"I know from all your kids' bickering about it that you get on them about eating and sleeping, but are you?"

Ryuji looks at him, "no of course not I'm a hypocrite." 

This is  _ not _ the answer he's expecting, and his friends are listening too so all action turns to a stop.

Akira gives him a  _ look _ . An 'i love you but  _ I swear to god _ ' one that he should  _ definitely _ fear.

Sojiro gives him a similar look. "Go sit down kid." He says with a sigh.

Ryuji is about to protest but everyone glares at him again, he sits down and it goes to  _ black _ .

He's falling and fal _ling_ _downwords_ and it's only _black_. 

He sits up and he's in a cell, the chains around his wrists jingle as he shifts. He looks down at his outfit, and he's in his improv outfit. He rubs his face, and looks down on his hand, and sees glitter from it. He wants to laugh.

He stands and faces the fake. "Sup  _ bitch _ ." 

He notices two twin figures glare at him, but Yaldabaoth shakes his head, "you say  _ one wrong thing _ and you're not the only one who faces  _ consequences _ ."

He sighs, "the  _ fuck do you want _ ." He hisses. He doesn't want the wardens hurt.

"Just to see you, and wonder.  _ What are you going to do next? _ " He's words sound like poison, it feels like he corrupts everything in the vicinity. 

  
  


Futaba and Akira witness the spectical of Ryuji sitting down, and then immediately _passing out_. His head hitting the table with a very _unsubtle thud_. Which probably sounds less unpleasant then it probably felt. They wince and expect him to get up from his abrupt landing but he _stays_ _down_ which is arguably more concerning.

His bag flies to the floor and a journal falls out of it, Futaba goes to look at it, leaning over Ryuji, and when she goes to grab it he jumps to a start. He startles abruptly and headbuts her in the head.

"Ow!!" "Ugh!" They say simultaneously.

He clutches his head and curses something under his breath.

"You kids need an ice pack?" Sojiro asks.

"Yeah. Thanks a lot Ryuji! I was just going to grab your notebook." She pouts.

His eyes widen and he looks to the floor and he quickly scoops it up back into his bag.

Sojiro disbands the group, telling Ryuji to go home and rest.

Futaba hangs back and confronts Akira, "do you have your probation journal?"

He nods confused.

"Can you go get it?" 

It must be the urgency in her voice that gets him to do it because he complies.

She looks it over for a second. "Ryuji had the same journal, it had the same writing on the front and everything." 

His eyes widen, "what?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> High key love them, they're great
> 
> That's it, that's all I wanted to say

**Author's Note:**

> He's kinda all over the place but he's trying his best, in the meantime though he finds old friends, gets a job, and cleans up messes.


End file.
